Hollywood Inside & Out April 17, 2014

“Well, I’m a gay guy…I’m not a straight guy who can let himself go.” – Anderson Cooper responds to Howard Stern’s compliment on the Silver Fox’s good looks.

We open with a fascinating study in contrasts. Two prominent gay men gave interviews where they discussed being public people. First we have Anderson Cooper – previously very private about being gay. He spent over an hour talking to Howard Stern about a variety of topics. I’ll post the whole interview on BillyMasters.com, but here are some highlights…

As you may know, he was a model as a child. Anderson revealed that he stopped modeling when a photographer propositioned him when he was 13 years old!!! When pressed for details, he also added that the guy offered him $2,500! While I know I should be outraged at the pedophiliac aspect of this story, I’m more shocked at the amount…and that Anderson turned it down! Coop joked that he thought it was a little low.

When asked about his penis size, Cooper said, “I’ve never had complaints.” He also swears we’ll never see an AC360 sex tape: “No, knock on wood. No, I’ve never taped, never videoed.” I don’t know if this is because Andy likes to be coy, but every time Howard asked if he was in love with partner Ben Maisani, Coop would say (as if rolling his eyes), “Yeah, sure.” Will they marry? “I don’t know – we’ll see.” Since we’ve all read about Ben’s purported extracurricular dalliances, I was interested when Howard asked if Anderson’s “totally monogamous”. The newsman quickly said, “I don’t want to talk about that….I don’t talk about my partner ’cause he’s not a public person.” Stern said, “I’m talking about you, I didn’t mention anything about your partner.” When pressed, Coop simply stated, “I’m a traditional guy,” to which Robin piped in, “Well, traditionally, most people cheat, right?”

On the other side of the coin is the “Hollywood Reporter” interview with Kevin Spacey – yeah, like he’s NOT gay. I’ve got stories – he didn’t offer me $2,500, but I’ve got stories. Anyway, here’s what Spacey said: “Let’s let people live their lives and do it the way they want to do it. All the chips will fall in the end, and we’ll all be judged by a much higher power than Entertainment Weekly can.” I’m not really sure what any of that means, but I suddenly have a craving for potato chips! Eh, I suppose it’s a step in the right direction. After years of vehemently denying being gay, he has softened. In 2010, he said, “I don’t live a lie. You have to understand that people who choose not to discuss their personal lives are not living a lie.” I absolutely respect that. And I still want those chips.

If you are a fan of this column (and clearly you are if you’ve gotten this far), you know that I have taken many gay people to task for having partners who are significantly younger. So it’s only fair that I write about James Franco with just as much zeal. It’s a story as old as time – actor takes Instagram video with cute girl at stage door; chats with her online; finds out she’s not yet 18; offers to get them a hotel room and share some iced tea. But here’s the fascinating part. At the same time, it was announced that Franco would star in a film produced by Gus Van Sant about Michael Glatze. Who is Michael Glatze? As a young man, he was a vocal and public gay activist. However, he later went through conversion therapy and became a poster child for the “ex-gay movement”. And in a rather ironic twist given the timing of this announcement, he was also editor of “XY”, a magazine for gay men that featured erotic photos of twinks of questionable age.

Someone who certainly enjoyed the company of underage boys was Lou Pearlman. The impresario behind ‘NSync and the Backstreet Boys is still in prison for swindling people out of millions of dollars. And although it’s been over 15 years since the Backstreet Boys fired him, they are still pissed off that he allegedly cheated them out of over $3 million! This action was initiated as part of a response to Pearlman’s bankruptcy case. The boys claim that Lou didn’t fulfill their contract and that he owes them $3,451,456.04 – roughly! On top of that, they want $87K in legal fees. Lou’s lawyers are asking time to review the 2,700 pieces of evidence. Not like Lou doesn’t have time.

Another group of Big Lou’s boys are reuniting. O-Town announced they have gotten back together for the first time in more than a decade. Well, they aren’t exactly ALL together. Notably absent is Ashley Parker Angel, Lou’s favorite. While not discussing why he rejected the reunion, Ash did post a sizzlin’ hot shirtless selfie, which we’ll share on BillyMasters.com.

Now, for some sad news – we just learned that Montecore is dead. He’s the white tiger that picked up Roy, of “Siegfried and Roy”, by the neck and shook him around like a rag doll (his actual name was Mantecore). Roy recounted this touching (and somewhat troubling) story about a close call shortly after the tiger’s birth: “I went back to find him pretty lifeless, with a cold nose and blue lips. I gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and put him inside my shirt and held him tight…my mouth-to-mouth resuscitation brought him back – I saved his life and he saved mine, so we were even.” Roy ended by saying, “It was my great honor to be beside him at the end. He is now playing with his siblings in white tiger heaven.” And I bet he was delicious with a light béarnaise sauce.

When I’m sharing recipes, it’s definitely time to end yet another column. Before ending, I want to acknowledge the passing of the divine Kate O’Mara. Whether as Caress Morell, Rani on “Dr. Who”, or Patsy Stone’s sister Jackie, she was always absolutely fabulous. Speaking of fabulousness, do check out www.BillyMasters.com – the site that always delivers. Although I didn’t have room to run a question in print, I always find some way to accommodate each and every one of you. Do drop a note to me at Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before Franco is cast in “The Roman Polanski Story”. So, until next time, remember, one man’s filth is another man’s bible.